CSP welcomes NHS England’s commitment to expand physio in GP practices

^{More physios in GP surgeries is the aim}

Clinical commissioning groups will be able to commission extra services, making the most of the wider workforce and new technologies, under planning guidance published on 22 September.

CSP chief executive Karen Middleton welcomed the commitment, saying: ‘This is a really positive step. And it’s a tribute to the leadership by many CSP members in developing general practice physiotherapy roles, working with staff at the CSP to make the case from these.

Opportunity

‘The CSP and the profession must take this opportunity to expand these initiatives. This means members talking to their CCGs and employers about how physiotherapy can be part of local plans for general practice.’

The document promises that Health Education England and NHS England will produce frameworks and models for more physios, physician associates and medical assistants.

England’s 7,900 GP surgeries will see their funding rise by an extra £2.4bn to more than £12bn a year by 2020. The money will pay for reforms, outlined in the General Practice Forward View, a blueprint for the future of primary care. The planning guidance sets out how this extra money will be used.

Must do

One of the ‘must dos’ is to reduce demand on services, it says. Achieving this will include supporting self-care and prevention, as well as taking forward new care models, such as multispecialty community providers.

The NHS only be able to deliver the right care, in the right place, with optimal value through a system-wide set of changes, the document says.

This means improving and investing in preventive, primary and community based care.